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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27651919">Façade</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueQuills/pseuds/BlueQuills'>BlueQuills</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Hermitcraft and Dream SMP Oneshots [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>DreamSMP, Hermitcraft RPF, Minecraft (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Gen, Platonic Relationships</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:41:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,354</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27651919</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueQuills/pseuds/BlueQuills</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Two admins. Two hidden faces.</p><p>Two lives riddled with holes from the past.</p><p>The real story of why Dream wears his mask, and Xisuma his helmet.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>No Romantic Relationship(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Hermitcraft and Dream SMP Oneshots [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1993072</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>221</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shining_Diamondsae/gifts">Shining_Diamondsae</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>From:<br/>Shining_Diamondsae<br/>Request:<br/>(((Could you possible do something related to why Xisuma and Dream wear a mask? Like maybe a backstory on why they wear it or how they obtained it, i think that can be cool! )))</p><p>Alright so this turned out almost like a character study kinda? Anyway, I didn't want to do something that I had seen others do, so I'm pretty sure this is a originally idea, sorry if you've seen it used before.<br/>Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dream stared into the horizon.</p><p>The sky was still dark as ink, but with thin streaks of soft cream and rose pink bleeding into the vast blackness, the first hints of the rising sun brightening the sky along the east.</p><p>He exhaled, tasting the sweet scent of early morning in the air, the freshness of dew washing away the husky tenderness of night.</p><p>He was proud. Proud of everything he had done, everything he had made, everything he had raised from the nothingness.</p><p>He had accomplished so much. Made so much of his power.</p><p>Yet he was scared to do one simple thing.</p><p>People urged him on. It was their curiosity that led them, enticed them. They saw, or rather, could not see, a mystery, and they wanted an answer.</p><p>But he couldn't give the answer. Wouldn't.</p><p>He refused to show anyone his face. Even his closet friends had no idea who stood behind the mask.</p><p>He let people make stories. Some thought he was a mob hybrid. Some blamed it on low self esteem. Others seemed to think that he had scars, or some sort of horribly disfigured face.</p><p>He let the rumours fly. They were all wrong. But they were better than the truth.</p><p>His fingers brushed against the cold porcelain surface of his mask gently, as is reassuring himself that it was still there.</p><p>He hated the mask. It trapped him, made him feel weak. His power was muffled like his voice when he spoke with it on, hidden within him. </p><p>But that was also exactly why he wore it.</p><p>The mask strained his power, blocked and muddled and hid it. He had made for that purpose, and, of course, to hide his single distinguishing feature that followed him, no matter what form he took on.</p><p>He was fully aware of what he was capable of, knew precisely how much power he held. He could will the entire world his friends lived in to die, crumble to nothingness in a heartbeat if he had wanted, which was exactly what he was afraid of.</p><p>He had nightmares of what would happen if, no, <em>when</em>, he lost his temper, when he would finally snap, and something would notify his friends. The only mortals he had allowed close to his heart for as long as he could remember. And they would turn away, scared and disgusted by the things he had done, the un-washable blood that stained his seemingly clean hands. Or if he hurt them, although something inside him knew that he never could, not by choice at least.</p><p>He dreaded the day that they would find out, the disappointment in their eyes, the way they would turn to each other and exile him, condemning him to eternal loneliness again.</p><p>He wanted friends. Wanted comfort. Wanted someone to fill that forever empty hole in his heart that came with the price of immortality. But he knew, even as he tried to keep his friends around him, keep them tied to him, that it would bring his downfall, that they would shatter the heart he was so desperately trying to use them to mend.</p><p>He only had friends now because he was lying to them - none of them knew who he really was, what he had really done.</p><p>He stared at the tip of the sun that had just started to appear, rimming the clouds in gold, as if they had just been dipped in precious metals. A new day.</p><p>A new start.</p><p>A blank slate brimming with possibilities. </p><p>Something he didn't have the luxury of. </p><p>He watched the sky lighten, the shadows being chased back, aware that no one was around. He reached up, slender fingers removing his mask for the first time in what had seemed like forever, just to feel the morning air on his skin.</p><p>Blinking slowly, he opened his eyes.</p><p>Pure, glowing white eyes gazed forwards.</p><p>They never seemed to change, no matter what he tried to will them into.</p><p>Some called him Herobrine, although that was simply a form he had taken on during some of his darkest days. When he was a monster, born from chaos and craving destruction. He had carved a path for himself in the dark, through the blood, striking down anyone and anything that stood in his way.</p><p>Before he had realized how power, <em>his</em> power, would condemn him to an eternal lifetime of ice cold loneliness. He regretted those days, and it almost seemed a punishment to him that his cursed, empty eyes followed him whatever form he took - a reminder that he couldn't walk away from his past.</p><p>He had found it amusing that the creators had specifically chosen to "forget" to remove Herobrine in a recent update. Truth was, they no longer saw him as a threat - he had changed, softened. The harmless smile he had drawn on his mask seemed to farther prove that to them.</p><p>At least, that was what he told himself. It let him convince his own bitter mind that he was worthy of having friends, worthy of being ignorent to everything that he had done.</p><p>Yet deep inside him, he knew that he could never turn his back on his past, never ignore the thick blood that stained his hands. There was too much he had done, too much to forget. And he knew that the people he called his friends, the mortals he had invited into his heart would see it too, with perfect clarity. They would no longer want him.</p><p>So just for a while, the tiny fraction of his life that he would spend here, his heart closer to complete then it had or ever would be, he let himself hide from his past.</p><p>But he knew.</p><p>One day, he would take off the mask for the last time - discard it into the blood and chaos that would undoubtedly be left in his wake.</p><p>One day, it would be over, and he would be alone, forever.</p><p>One day.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope that turned out they way you wanted - I'm pretty happy with it :D</p><p>Chapter two on Xisuma isn't actually connected storyline wise, but because it's the same request and because they both follow the mask theme and they were part of the same request, they'll be in the same fic. But technically, they can be read as two different Oneshots.</p><p>Hope you enjoyed!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>After ending my main story with a somewhat bittersweet ending, I wanted to write something a lil bit softer, so here this is. </p><p>Also, I do realize I kinda strayed from the request, and went on a more "yeah story about mask" but there is a backstory so I mostly counts I think ._.</p><p>Also, before I added his second chapter, the word count of the fic was exactly 1000, completely by pure chance, and oh my gosh it was amazing.</p><p>Anyway, enjoy.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Golden rays peeked over the endless sea, the gentle crest of each wave washed in brilliant light, like a tiny flame atop the water.</p><p>Brillant glowing splashes of vibrant crimsons and burning coppery orange, blended with blurry patches of lemon yellow. Rose pink rimmed the clouds as if dressing them prettily in lace, the softness giving away to the sapphire blue and thick, rich indigo that seeped into the light.</p><p>Perched precariously on the sturdy branch of a jungle tree near his base, Xisuma stared into the wash of colour, his eyes focused on some nonexistent point of interest far away, the entire scene tainted with violet from behind his visor.</p><p>Making sure no one was around, he removed it, relishing the sudden burst of colours that he could see. </p><p>Slowly, he sank down into a sitting position, legs dangling over the edge, relishing every cool breeze that ruffled his hair, every hue his violet eyes could make out, every heartbeat he could feel pulsing in his chest.</p><p>He stared down at his helmet for a moment, his face reflected in the purple visor, his lavender eyes glittering as bright as stars. </p><p>They were his secret. The colour of his visor would overlap with his eyes, and none of the hermits knew that his irises were actually a startling lilac. He told them they were grey.</p><p>It didn't seem like a big thing, but he had seen how VoidWalkers were treated. His orchid eyes would have been a dead giveaway of his identity, and he knew he likely wouldn't have been as lucky as last time.</p><p>His mind flickered back into the memories.</p><p>He had been driven from a server, his <em>own </em>server, after they had discovered who he was. He remembered the icy stares from people he had once called his friends, the words that struck his heart like fangs from people he would have seen as his family.</p><p>They had banished him, sent him back to the Void from which he was created, and left him in the eternal darkness. </p><p>The constant, never ending torment of the Void tearing him apart and his VoidWalker powers rebuilding him over and over again was agonizing, enough to drive most people mad, and he was sure he would have been if not for the restoration powers the Void lent his mind. But even then it was less painful than the knowledge that he would never be able to trust anyone, that he would walk the rest of his immortal life alone, eternally lonely, heart incased in ice to protect it from breaking.</p><p>It was only luck that this world had drifted close enough for him to glitch himself into, and that its inhabitants were clueless enough to let him stay.</p><p>He wondered sometimes why they didn't attack him. It would have made it so easy for him to strike back, to fight for his own freedom under the false name of self defence. But they were kind and welcoming, and he couldn't find the hate that had brewed in him during his time in the Void, couldn't summon the indifferent anger that had consumed him so often. </p><p>All his scheming and curses and promises he had made to himself in his endless anger had vaporized into nothingness.</p><p>He swallowed, eyes focused on a thin golden stripe of light that seemed to be swimming through the sky, the last rays of a dying sun.</p><p>He couldn't trust anyone, <em>shouldn't </em>trust anyone, and he had learned that the hard way, yet he couldn't help himself. It was almost second nature for him to believe people, love them like family, and he knew without hesitation that he would do anything for any of his hermits if they needed him.</p><p>It tore into him, and he wondered every morning if that sunrise would be the last one he would ever see, before the darkness caught up to him, if every time he spoke to someone was the last time he would see that sort of careless friendliness in their eyes.</p><p>It was like poison, spreading slowly over everything he knew, withering his hopes of happiness. </p><p>He didn't have the liberty of free trust, yet it what he wanted most. To connect with people, to find people he could call his friends, his family.</p><p>He swallowed thickly, gazing down with a blurred gaze at his helmet, his heart heavy.</p><p>And then a hand closed gently around his shoulder and he froze, a thousand fears submerging his mind, barely suppressing his instinct to attack.</p><p>No.</p><p>No one was supposed to see him with his helmet off.</p><p>He fixed his gaze on the visor of his helmet, unwilling to turn around, and he could see the reflection of his own face, behind him, eyes soft with nothing but kindness, stood Keralis.</p><p>He opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water, waiting for the horror, for banishment, the exile. Shivering involuntary, he drew his arms closer to his body, the memories of the time he had last spent in the Void flooding back to him all at once. He was so <em>foolish</em>, so unbelievably stupid. Why had he thought that the feeling of fresh air was worth the risk of discovery?</p><p>He squeezed his eyes shut, unwilling to see the disappointment in his friend's gaze, the realization, and the icy coldness. He could hear each of his own heartbeats echoing loudly in his ears, thudding painfully in his chest.</p><p>And then warm arms wrapped around him, and he felt himself being pulled into a hug. </p><p>He opened his eyes slightly to see Keralis, awkwardly crouched next to him, arms enveloping him, nothing but genuine care glowing in his eyes.</p><p>Xisuma managed to find his voice, uncertainty adding a web of fragility to it. "Do - do you know?" His hands were shaking and he tried to hide it by clenching them into fists.</p><p>Keralis smiled at him. "Yes." He answered simply, not moving from his position.</p><p>"Why?" His voice cracked. </p><p>The question was so simple, yet so complex. The layers held within it seemed to peel back by themselves, revealing them to Keralis. The "Why did you not tell me you knew?", the "Why would you be hugging me if you knew?", and the "Why are you okay with it?". There was such a deep note of profound sadness behind it that broke Keralis' heart. </p><p>"Because you're my friend. And always will be." His voice was a whisper.</p><p>Xisuma gave a choked sob, burying his head in his arms, and Keralis patted his back gently, siting beside him, watching as the last rosy glows of the sun sank below the horizon, and the millions of stars began to sparkle overhead like crystals.</p><p>Xisuma paused and lifted his head finally, and for the first time Keralis could really appreciate his beautiful eyes, the dreamlike glitter of moonlight and the gentle glow of violet. He smiled softly. </p><p>"You don't have to hide. The entire server knows." He said carefully, and Xisuma leaned against him slightly, both of them enjoying each other's warmth as the jungle slipped into the night.</p><p>Xisuma blinked, the silver glow of moonlight tracing the path of a tear down his cheek.</p><p>"Why aren't you afraid? I thought everyone hated Voidwalkers." He spoke the last sentence with a hint of resentment in his voice, and Keralis felt a stab of sympathy.</p><p>"No. We aren't afraid. We know that <em>you </em>are amazing, and that's all we need to know."</p><p>Xisuma didn't know how to respond, and they lapsed into comfortable silence.</p><p>A single comet streaking towards the horizon, a flicker of wonderful light before vanishing into nothingness forever. </p><p>Xisuma smiled, then loosened the deathly grip his fingers had kept on his helmet the entire time. It slipped from his grasp and fell, tumbling, disappearing into the yawning shadows of the night jungle.</p><p>"I won't be needing that anymore."</p><p>Keralis gave him a small smile.</p><p>And this time, he knew, with upmost certainty, that he was giving himself, his identity, his heart, to the right people.</p><p>Maybe he <em>could </em>afford to trust.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Well that was really fun to write &lt;3 </p><p>Thank you for this awesome request, and I hope I did it justice, and that you enjoyed it.</p><p>To request please leave a comment on part one of this series.</p><p>Thanks!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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